New Video Exposes Bias and Bigotry in Newton High Schools

BOSTON, April 7, 2016/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Indoctrination @ Newton, a new video released today by Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT), exposes a pattern of anti-Israel teachings found in Newton, Massachusetts high schools, including:

Newton's high schools have used Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) maps that falsify the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Newton students were not told that the maps were created by the PLO's propaganda unit.

Newton's schools presented students with a falsified version of the Hamas Charter. In Newton's doctored version the word "Jews" – as a target of hatred -- is replaced with the word "Zionists."

In one lesson, Newton students are asked to consider the Jewish state's right to exist. (The legitimacy of no other nation-state's existence is questioned.) The lesson included "expert" opinions, which are drawn overwhelmingly from anti-Israel academics and anti-Semitic activists.

A book used in Newton high schools has a recommended reading list that includes the extremist writings by Muslim Brotherhood leaders including Sayyid Qutb, and Yusuf Qaradawi, whose sermons call for the murder of Jews and homosexuals.

Newton schools officials are shown to continuously refuse to make school curricula and teaching materials available to the Newton residents.

Charles Jacobs, APT President said, "The video also shows that Saudi, Palestinian, and other Arab-funded teaching materials have been inserted into the curriculum, much of it containing anti-Israel bias."

The Saudi funded Arab World Studies Notebook was used in Newton high schools until public pressure forced its removal. The Notebook, condemned by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), and rejected bymany other school boards, teaches students, among other things, that Israeli soldiers murder Palestinian women. Newton's Superintendent of Schools David Fleishman claimed that use of the Notebook helps develop "critical thinking skills."

The video's release follows news reports of anti-Semitic incidents, including hateful graffiti found in Newton North High School and at the F.A. Day Middle School. The graffiti featured swastikas and the genocidal statement "Burn the Jews." According to media reports, Newton Day school officials – in violation of required mandatory reporting procedures – failed to inform parents and police about the incidents. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed concerns about these escalating anti-Semitic incidents.

Upon discovering racist graffiti at Boston Latin High School, city, state, and federal agencies immediately launched an investigation into the matter. Jacobs said, "Concerned parents in Newton demand equal protection for Jewish students. Accordingly, in light of Newton's biased education, its ongoing refusal to allow public access to curricula and teaching materials, and the recent escalation of anti-Semitism, we urge Newton Mayor Setti Warren, Massachusetts' state education officials, and the FBI to investigate this hateful situation in Newton schools."